


Rushing back to you.

by arfrid



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Crushes, F/F, First Kiss, Kissing, Love Confessions, Maxine "Max" Mayfield Needs a Hug, Maxine "Max" Mayfield has PTSD, Pansexual Eleven | Jane Hopper, but a lot of angsty shit, elmax - Freeform, some cute shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28450587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arfrid/pseuds/arfrid
Summary: “How’s it- How’s it healing?”"Nothing medicine can't heal. So, you gonna explain what the hell you were doing there?”ORElmax get together, but angsty.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	Rushing back to you.

“Look, El. I’m.. I’m really, really, really sorry for what happened.”

  
They were in the park, after a few nights of Max not talking to El, a few days after El found Max in the Arcade. Even though Max lived with El and Hop, she had gone missing for a few days. Hopper had said that if Max didn’t come back, he’d get a search party for her.

Yet here she was.

“How’s it- How’s it healing?” Max asked, slightly shakily. El took her hands out her pockets and showed her the bandaged hand.

“Nothing medicine can’t heal.” She assured her dryly. “So, you gonna explain what the _hell_ you were doing there?”

Max flinched, taking a step back. El ignored the tugging at her heartstrings.

“You were drinking, in the old abandoned arcade, you had a pack of cigarettes in the corner- Christ, do you _know_ how bad those are for you?” El told her sharply, in an accusatory tone. Max shrunk back, looking almost fearful. “Yeah. Of course you do. That’s the reason you did it.”

“Please, El-”

“No, you do _not_ get to walk away from this Scott-free just because of What Happened. You-”  
  


“El, _listen_ -”

“No, you listen here, Maxine Mayfield-” Maybe saying her full name triggered something inside her, gave her more confidence. Either way, Max stepped forwards, fire in her eyes.

“El, _just listen to me_!” She shouted. Now it was El’s time to step back. Her eyes widened. “Goddammit, El, listen!”

El stopped talking. Okay, yeah, maybe she _should_ listen, to at least hear the girl out.

“Last Friday, I was having a good day. Everything was fine. I was with you, you were with me, and everything was _fine_. The next day, at school, everything just came, like, _rushing_ back at me. I had a panic attack in an empty classroom.” Her voice broke near the end. El was vividly imagining it; she did not like the scene. “Then, after that, I got my grade, and that was bad, since most of the year I was in a bad mood cause of my stepdad. Then there was the plate incident. I couldn’t handle it. So I did what I knew how to do best.”

She met El’s eyes this time, then laughed bitterly. “Drink my problems away.”

“Before I met you, that’s how I dealt with it.”  


El gaped at her. They had been 14 when they had first met. That meant... Holy shit.  _Holy shit_ .

“I didn’t want to go to you – I don’t know why – so I just… went to my second favorite place in the world.” She mumbled. “Okay? So.. I’m sorry.. It’s just- I- Uh, I, erm, had- I mean, _have_ \- a, uhm…”

El stifled a giggle at Max’s now crimson face, feeling her face heat up too.

“I uh, have a, uh..” She cleared her throat. “A crush on you.”

El’s heart stuttered just like Max had. A silence spread across them as El tried to muster the words to respond.

“You- It’s okay if you don’t feel the same- I just thought I’d let you know-”

Finding no other way to respond, El pushed against her, kissing her. At first the kiss was slightly hesitant, but eventually Max got over her shock and kissed back, almost just as fiercely as El. Max tasted of caramel, and the smell of a beach and of  _summer_ – and then they broke apart.

Max smiled at her, the softest smile El had ever seen, or thought Max was capable of emitting.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.” She informed El, which made her beam at her. Throwing her arms around Max’s neck, she gazed into those ocean eyes.

“You know, our friends have been waiting for this to happen.” El informed her. Max rolled her eyes at her, but glanced around surreptitiously, just in case anyone else was around.

“Shut up and kiss me again.”


End file.
